Submitted March 25, 2010 to The New York Times
Dear Editor:
It is grossly inaccurate to lump the farm safety net in with other government programs, such as Medicare and Social Security, for which spending continues to grow ("The Perils of Pay Less, Get More," March 17, 2010).
In fact, funding for federal farm policy was cut by $7.4 billion in the 2008 farm bill, and those savings were applied to other initiatives in the legislation—nutrition and conservation, for example. This is not to mention that actual farm safety net spending has come in under the projected budget in seven of the last eight years—an especially impressive feat at a time when budget deficits are swelling in Washington.
When we opened up a recent edition of The New York Times and saw the headline "The Obesity-Hunger Paradox," we got excited. Maybe, we thought, someone was finally tackling the issue of world hunger and how the obesity debate could ironically hinder U.S. farmers' ability to address this problem.
Jeans have come a long way from their humble roots as the tough but affordable work pants made famous by Levi Strauss. It is no longer uncommon to see a pair of jeans selling for $100, $200, or even $300, and the global jeans market is valued at more than $50 billion. To people around the world, jeans represent a symbol of American culture, and many foreigners are willing to save their hard-earned wages for these expensive American imports.
